Not Long Ago
by JuuJuuLuff
Summary: Ichigo has finally found Orihime. Now they can leave Los Noches, and go home. But what if Orihime doesn't want to leave? Or rather, She can't? Rated T for Language and reference to Violence. IchiHime Oneshot! NOTE: There will be no sequel.


**A/N: **Hey there! This isn't my first fanfic, or my first bleach fanfic, but this is my first oneshot. My first _bleach oneshot. _Not to mention it's my first romance! I usually write comedies.

As the summary says, this ficlet is about Orihime and Ichigo (BIG fan of this pairing). If you have been reading the current chapters of bleach, you would know where Orihime is and why is there too. For those of you who haven't I would suggest reading them or asking a friend about them before you read this, so you don't ruin it for yourself. This is a bit dramatic too, and before you read on and say, "What? Orihime is sooo OOC!" Because she's not. In the current chapters, Orihime has become more intense and fierce, and has a very strong will. As a result, she may act a little different than what you're used to, but it's all a part of her growing inner-strength. By the way, I tried to do Nell's lisp the best I could, so please bare with me! Enjoy! By the way, if you feel like adding a soundtrack to this, I would suggest "Sayonara" by Orange Range. Good Song!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anything else that belongs to Tite Kubo. I would love to have one of his shirts though…**

* * *

Ichigo coughed, and then looked at his hands—blood. Great. He wiped the blood on the wall and then put down Nell. He needed to catch his breath. He had been running for a while now, and he had lost a lot of blood.

"Dammit," he cursed as he coughed up some more blood. He wiped it on the wall again, and then looked behind him. Nothing there. He then looked to the front. Nothing there.

There was nothing there, and it seemed as if there would not be anything there for a while. But he had to keep going. He had to find her. He could feel her reiatsu, which meant she was near.

"I gotta find her," he muttered. He heaved a sigh and turned towards Nell. She was looking at him curiously.

"Who do you hath to find, Ichigo?"

"The person who I came here to find," he answered as he picked up Nell and began to run down the long hall once again.

"Umm Ichigo?" asked Nell.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice somewhat raspy from the all the running and the loss of blood.

"That dothen't really anther my quethton."

* * *

Orihime sat got up from her chair and stared at the food given to her. It wasn't too bad; some tomato soup and a glass of milk. She picked up the glass of milk and took a sip; she then spit it out immediately. It tasted horrible. Her guess that it was about a week old. She looked at the tomato soup, curious to as if she should eat it or not.

"I don't think I should give it a shot," she mumbled. She had, at first, absolutely refused to eat—that was until Ulquiorra threatened to feed her food in a tube. She now tries to eat what she can, though none of it is ever that good.

She left the table and sat in her chair again. This was her daily routine. Trying to eat, sitting, and occasionally getting a visit from Ulquiorra. It was boring and uneventful, but it was her life now. She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes. "Ichigo…" she whispered.

As if waiting for the right moment to scare her, Ulquiorra came in at the exact moment.

"Thinking about that trash again, are we?"

Orihime opened her eyes and jumped slightly from his interruption of her thoughts. She got up from her chair and straightened herself out. Ulquiorra only stood quietly watching her, until his eyes drifted to her untouched food. She had followed his gaze, and immediately saw what caught his attention.

"Not eating are we? And what is that mess on the floor?" he asked, referring to the milk she had spit out moments ago.

"The milk didn't taste good."

"Hmm. And what about the soup? It looks like you did not even touch that."

"I didn't want to try it. I thought it would taste bad too," she answered simply.

"Well," he began, "You shouldn't jump to conclusions. Do not assume that the soup will taste bad just because the milk did. Where did you get that logic from? Milk and soup are two completely different foods."

Orihime just bowed her head and apologized. "I'm sorry. I'll eat the soup."

Ulquiorra nodded and turned towards the door. He was about to turn the knob to leave when he stopped suddenly.

"I will try to get some new milk," he said without even looking at her. He then opened the door and left, closing the door behind him.

"He really is odd." Orihime walked to the table and took a sip of the soup to then spit it out a second later.

"Looks like my logic is fine, because the soup tastes bad too," she muttered.

* * *

"Damn," Ichigo cursed under his breath. "Where the hell is she?"

Ichigo was growing impatient now. He could feel her reiatsu as if it was right next to him, yet she or a door of some sort was not in sight.

"Ichigo," Nell said, "I can feel her reiathu too; ith really cloth. Don't you think we thould thop?"

Ichigo, letting his impatience get the best of him, snapped at Nell.

"Do you see anywhere to stop!? I sure don't!"

Nell was taken aback by his reply, but still kept on.

"What if there ith a hidden door or thomething?"

Ichigo stopped in his tracks. A hidden door? Why didn't he think of that? He looked around, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. What if he passed her already?

"Nell," Ichigo started, "Do you know if there are any hidden doors in Los Noches?"

Nell shook her head. "I juth gathe it a thought."

Ichigo frowned in disappointment. She didn't know of any. But that still didn't rule the idea out. Concentrating on the source of her reiatsu, he turned to his right. It felt the strongest there. He walked up to the wall, still concentrating on her reiatsu. As if by magic, a door knob suddenly appeared.

"Thath amathing Ichigo! You made a knob appear!" Nell exclaimed.

Ichigo was surprised, but pleased. It seemed that the secret to making the door appear was to hone in on the reiatsu on the other side. Ichigo placed his hand on the knob, and turned to face Nell.

"This could be a trap Nell. I want you to stay out here."

Nell looked sad, but she nodded her head. "I underthand."

Ichigo gave her a small smirk, and opened the door, walking inside.

* * *

Uryu stopped in his tracks. He just felt Ichigo's reiatsu meet with another's. And that other was…

"What is it Ichigo?" Asked Pesshe.

"Ichigo…he found Orihime."

Pesshe yelled in excitement. "That's great! But wait…"

"What?"

"I thought you were Ichigo? Is there two of you?"

"I thought we went over this…"

* * *

Ichigo stood in awe at the sight before him. There she was, just sitting in a chair. And the clothes she was wearing…

"Ichigo…" was all she could say. Then she noticed the wound in his stomach.

"Oh Ichigo! You're hurt!" she yelled as she ran over to him, bending down to look at the wound. She then stood up and looked him in the eyes, tears starting to fall from her own.

"Why…? Why did you come?"

Ichigo was taken aback. Why did he come? How could she even ask!

"What do you mean? I came here to get you!"

Orihime pulled Ichigo's hands into her own. "You shouldn't have…You shouldn't have come," she whispered.

Ichigo was confused. What was wrong with Orihime?

"I don't understand Orihime. How come? How come I shouldn't have come?"

He was trying to talk as nicely as possible, but tears continued to fall.

Suddenly, Orihime let go of his hands and turned around. Without even facing him, she said one word: "Leave."

"Wh-What?" Ichigo said in shock.

"I want you to leave," she said still without turning around.

Ichigo stared at the woman in front of him. There was something wrong with this. How could she just ask him to leave? Was she seriously planning to stay here? No; he would NOT let her stay. She was coming with him, whether she liked it or not.

"I'm not leaving Orihime," he said sternly.

"What?"

I'm not leaving."

Orihime turned around, looking at Ichigo with a face he had never seen before: Anger.

"I said get out Ichigo!" she yelled. Then seconds later, she was being slammed against the wall, her hands being held against the wall by Ichigo's.

"I am not leaving here without you!"

Orihime didn't know what to say. This was the first time she had seen Ichigo so angry at her. This was also the first time she had seen him looked so determined.

"I came all this way to get you and I'm not turning back now! I'm leaving with you, or I'm not leaving at all! I will not loose you!"

Orihime just stood there, staring into Ichigo's eyes. Ichigo did the same, not moving an inch.

Orihime then smiled at him, tears coming to her eyes.

"Thank you, Ichigo."

Ichigo let go of her, and wiped the tears from her eyes. He then did something she hadn't expected; he embraced her.

"Ichigo?"

"I thought…I had lost you Orihime. I thought I lost you, like I lost my mother. I wasn't ready to lose the most important person to me…again."

Orihime was stunned by those words. Most important person? She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. She also felt hot liquid trailing down Ichigo's neck. She moved her head from his shoulder and looked at his face; he was crying.

"Ichigo…?"

"I won't loose you Orihime. I will protect you, and keep you safe. I won't let this happen again. I won't let you be taken away from me."

At this time, Orihime was crying as well. They were tears of joy, but tears of sadness as well.

To be loved by the one you love, is the most wonderful gift that a person could wish for. But knowing that the love you have can never be, is the greatest curse of them all.

"Ichigo…"

Ichigo held her face in his hands, and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Orihime, I love you."

He bent forward, and captured her lips with his own. Orihime was shocked at first, but gave into the kiss. It was her first kiss; Ichigo's too. It was also her most passionate. They poured all their love into this one single kiss, as if trying to show how much they loved each other. They both pulled away, needing to catch their breath. Ichigo smiled at her, but Orihime continued to cry. Thinking that they were tears of joy or just overwhelming emotions, he embraced her once more.

Orihime continued to cry, knowing what she had to do. Aizen would not let her leave. If she attempted to leave, shoe could not imagine what could happen to her friends, or more importantly, to Ichigo. She kissed Ichigo on the cheek and as she let go of him, she whispered, "Koten Zanshun."

At that moment, Ichigo felt something puncture his chest. He looked down and saw the blood seeping through his clothes. He looked up at Orihime, horror evident in his face. As he fell to the floor he could all he could say was, "Why…?"

Orihime fell on her knees and wept over Ichigo's wounded body. "I love you too, Ichigo. I love you more than you could ever imagine. That's why I can't leave with you. But you can leave. Leave, and be happy…For me…"

**

* * *

****One Week Later**

Ichigo woke and saw blurred images. He rubbed his eyes to see Rukia and Renji standing over him.

"Hey. You're awake," said Renji.

Ichigo sat up and felt a pain in his chest. "Ahhh…Where am I?"

"You're at Urahara's. You've been asleep for almost a week," Rukia replied.

Ichigo scratched his head. Urahara's? Asleep for a week? So it wasn't a dream? They really did go to Hueco Mundo? So that means…

"Where's Orihime?" Ichigo asked.

Silence.

"Where's Orihime?" he said once again, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Ichigo…" Rukia began.

"I said where the hell is Orihime!? I wanna see her! Call her in here!—Ahhh!" All that yelling made one of Ichigo's wounds reopen.

"Shut the hell up Ichigo! She's not here!" Renji exclaimed.

"What?" Ichigo responded.

"She wouldn't…she wouldn't come. I'm sorry man," said Renji.

Ichigo pounded a fist into the bed. "Why!? Why didn't she come? I thought she…I thought we could…Orihime…"

Renji and Rukia looked at each other. None of them could say a word. They didn't know what to say to him, how to comfort him. They couldn't say, "everything is gonna be alright" because everything was not gonna be alright. There was nothing they could say to fill the emptiness in his heart.

"We'll leave you alone…" Rukia whispered as she and Renji excited the room.

Ichigo looked at his hands. Not long ago, these hands were holding Orihime. Not long ago, these hands were wiping away Orihime's tears. Would these hands ever touch her again?

**

* * *

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**A/N: **There it is! My sad romance. Right now it's a oneshot but maybe, MAYBE, I'll make a sequel. It all depends on what you guys think. Please review! Thank you for your time!


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